Russia

The article highlights political confrontation between the Hetmanate and the Zapoorozhian Sich and an important role of Russian diplomacy, which sought to limit the autonomy of Ukraine. The author shows that political orientation of the hetmans could vary depending on the political environment. The Russian government skillfully used contra- dictions between different political forces and Moscow diplomats in order to eliminate the Hetmanate autonomy.

The article is devoted to the relevant topic connected with the coverage of the policy of Imperial Russia in its marginal South-Eastern territories. The author introduces new documents from the archive of foreign policy of the Russian Empire and the National archive of the Republic of Kalmykia. The paper analyzes external and internal factors, special historical conditions and prerequisites for relations between the Kalmyk khanate and the countries of Central Asia.

Based on Iranian and Arabian sources, the article analyzes the formation of the «Arab peace initiative» on Syria, which was supposed to put an end to the 2011 Syrian crisis by regional states. The participation of Iran, the closest ally of Syria in the Middle East region, its reaction and the evolution of the approach to the «Arab initiative» as it is being implemented, is examined.

The author considers the emigrant experience of understanding the Soviet regime that was born under the influence of Russian empire collapse and radical political transformations in 1917. Based on different sources, dynamic of Russian natives’ public moods throughout 1920 (the one that was affected by European life, inter-emigrant political struggle and Bolshevistic state-building) is analyzed.

The article is devoted to the formation of the Eurasian intellectual tendency in Russia – based on the material of the Turkic social thought. The views of the Turkic-Muslim leader Ismail Gasprinsky are reconstructed. His ideas about the rapprochement between Russia and Turkey, about a potential «Eastern agreement» with the participation of Russia, Turkey, Persia and the Balkan states are shown. It is concluded that the idea of an «Eastern agreement» is (in terms of content and meaning) an early Eurasian/pro-Eurasian concept.

The article analyzes the mediation activities of international organizations in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict from 1992 to 2020. The positions of the OSCE, the United States, Russia, as well as Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh regarding the plans for a peaceful settlement of the conflict are examined. The key role of the Russian Federation as a major regional factor in the reconciliation of the warring parties and the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem is considered.

Based on the analysis of diplomatic correspondence of British ambassador in Russia at the court of Empress Anna Ioannovna highlights the process of preparation for the conclusion of the Russian-British commercial treaty in 1734. In foreign and Russian historiography, the treaty was actively discussed, but the plot related to its preparatory stage was poorly covered, or not touched at all.